Maharashtra govt to file curative plea after SC dismisses review appeal

Among those who were present at the meeting were Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, along with committee president and Higher and Technical Education Minister Chandrakant Patil, Ports and Mines Minister Dadaji Bhuse, Industries Minister Uday Samant, Public Works Department Minister Ravindra Chavan and Excise Minister Shambhuraj Desai.

The government also called Advocate General Birendra Saraf, and former justice MG Gaikwad to the meeting. “The Supreme Court verdict on dismissing the review petition was discussed in the sub-committee meeting. The petition was dismissed in the chamber by an honourable judge. We sought to argue in the court,” Desai said after the meeting.

“A curative plea will be filed. A dedicated commission over the issue of backwardness of the Maratha community will be formed, which will hold detailed and scientific surveys. The commission will be given a fixed timeframe. A renowned social institution will be asked to conduct study to fix social and economic backwardness,” Desai added.

Shinde and Fadnavis will hold discussions with representatives of the Maratha community, he further added.

On May 5, 2021, the Supreme Court had struck down the provisions under law to provide reservation to the Maratha community. The following month, a review plea was filed by the state government.

The then Uddhav Thackeray – led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government – was criticised by the BJP, which was in the opposition at the time, for failing to take care of interests of the Marathas.

In June 2017, the then Devendra Fadnavis government constituted the Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission (MSBCC), headed by Justice (retired) MG Gaikwad, to study the social, financial and educational status of the Maratha community.

The commission submitted its report in November 2018, classifying Marathas as a socially and educationally backward class (SEBC). The same month, the Maharashtra Assembly unanimously passed a Bill proposing 16 per cent reservation in education and government jobs for Marathas.

The Bombay High Court upheld the constitutional validity of the reservation law. But the HC reduced the quota to 12 per cent in education and 13 per cent in jobs.

In the Supreme Court, the matter was referred to a five-member Constitution bench, which unanimously agreed there was no need to revisit the 1992 Indira Sawhney judgment that had fixed the total reservation limit at 50 per cent. The top court unanimously struck down the law in the state, granting reservation to the Marathas.